How to pray the Psalms without flattening them — a 10-day guide that honors both their honesty and their hope.
The Psalms have been the prayer book of the church for two thousand years. They are also strange — full of joy and rage, trust and despair, sometimes in the same psalm.
This guide will not flatten them. It will help you pray them as they are.
Day 1 — A psalm of trust (Psalm 23)
Day 2 — A psalm of confession (Psalm 51)
Day 3 — A psalm of lament (Psalm 13)
Day 4 — A psalm of praise (Psalm 100)
Day 5 — A psalm of thanksgiving (Psalm 103)
Day 6 — A psalm of imprecation (Psalm 137)
Yes, even this. The psalmist's rage has been brought into the presence of God. Pray it as a person who knows that the wrath belongs to God, not to us.
Day 7 — A psalm of pilgrimage (Psalm 121)
Day 8 — A psalm of waiting (Psalm 130)
Day 9 — A psalm of corporate worship (Psalm 95)
Day 10 — A psalm of glad obedience (Psalm 119:1-16)
How to pray a psalm
- Read it slowly, aloud if you can.
- Notice the emotion under the words. Is it yours? Is it someone else's you can pray for?
- Pray it back to God. Use the words. Substitute names where it helps.
- Be still afterward. Let the psalm sit on your soul.